Official Review

The disembodied hands of Sean Fields conclude his Bootlegs and B-Sides trilogy with five more "next-gen" renditions of classic card plots, including the Ambitious Card, two-card transposition, and the Richard Kaufman/Gene Maze/David Arthur "Fusion" effect in Cardworks. Here's what you get:

PAINTSHIFTER: A pretty two-card transposition reminiscent of Eddie Fechter's "Be Honest, What is It?" using a court card (like the Queen of Hearts) and a spot card (like the Four of Diamonds), in which their faces seem to transpose on contact. Upon repeating the trick, instead of transposing, the cards transform into black Aces.

WIPE ME DOWN: A multiple-climax approach to the Ambitious Card wherein a signed selection twice rises from the middle of the deck to the top, whereupon the magician rubs it face down on his close-up pad, then turns it face up, showing the signature to be gone. He turns the card face down again and rubs it on the close-up pad a little more firmly, then he turns it over showing it to be blank. Finally, he rubs the face of the deck on the close-up pad, then spreads it face up on the table, showing all the cards to be blank.

THE SUBLIME SWITCH; A gambler-style sleight-of-hand method for secretly exchanging one small packet of cards with another. It's all done in the hands, and unlike Marlo's propelled switch, or the Ouellet Switch (from Threshold), there's no lapping, but at some point you'll have to ditch the switched-out cards.

STOP is Sean's handling for the classic "stop" trick wherein a freely chosen card is lost in the deck, then the magician deals cards face down into a pile on the table until the spectator says "stop." The card he stopped at is shown to be the selection.

WITHIN is an inverted approach to the 'Fusion' effect in Richard Kaufman's Cardworks, wherein a card is chosen, then lost in the deck. The deck is spread face down, revealing a card in the middle that's blank. That card is removed from the spread, shown to be blank on both sides, then slowly peeled apart, revealing the face and back of the selection on the inside.

I'll reiterate the caveat that's on the DVD box "this material is not for beginners” and viewers interested in learning these tricks must already be familiar with a one-handed method for getting a pinky break, the Paintbrush Change, Top Change, Bottom Deal, Mexican Turnover, Triple Lift, Vernon's Illusion of Depth move (a.k.a. Tilt), and the Erdnase Change. That said, since none of these sleights are taught, the potential value of this DVD (and the other two in the series) is directly proportional to your interest in the effects themselves.

Product info for Bootlegs and B-Sides - Volume 3

For the first time ever on DVD, Sean Fields has assembled some serious card magic.

Bootlegs & B-Sides Vol.3 contains Sean's innovative and commercial approaches to classic card plots, such as The 2 Card Transpo, The Stop Trick and The Ambitious Card. Within, Sean's vision of Card Warp, is worth the price of the DVD alone!

With his unique and laid back style, Sean teaches you each effect step by step. Don't expect to have your hand held though; it is assumed that you have a basic knowledge of card magic. Newbs, don't waste your time.

Effects include:

PaintShifter2 cards VISIBLY change place, and then transform in the spectators hands! This is cool.

Sublime SwitchSean's 4 for 4 has nailed some real names, and for the first time ever explained on film!

StopAn interesting approach to the classic Stop Trick. In Stop, the spectator seems to be in complete control the entire time!

Wipe Me DownAnother killer ambitious card finale!

WithinA monstrous 'warp' effect, with a climax that your audiences WILL talk about!